Opioid Overdose: Addressing a National Crisis of Preventable Deaths

Introduction Overdose prevention efforts around the nation demonstrate the immense value and efficacy of a public health and safety approach to the problem of drug misuse in society. Proven strategies are available to reduce the harms associated with drug use, treat dependence and addiction, improve immediate overdose responses, enhance public safety and prevent fatalities. These strategies include expanding access to the life-saving medicine naloxone and its associated training; enacting legal protections that encourage people to call for help for overdose victims; and training people how to prevent, recognize and respond to an overdose. 911 Good Samaritan Limited Immunity Laws 911 Good Samaritan immunity laws provide protection from arrest for witnesses who call 911 or seek emergency medical assistance. The chance of surviving an overdose, like that of surviving a heart attack, depends greatly on how fast one receives medical assistance. Witnesses to heart attacks rarely think twice about calling 911, but witnesses to an overdose often squander precious time hesitating to call for help or, in many cases, simply dont make the call out of fear of arrest for minor drug law violations. The best way to encourage overdose witnesses to seek medical help is to exempt them from arrest, an approach often referred to as 911 Good Samaritan immunity laws. Research has shown that the most common reason people cite for not calling 911 is fear of arrest for themselves or the person who is experiencing an overdose. Multiple studies show that most deaths actually occur one to three hours after the victim has initially ingested

or injected drugs.i The time that elapses before an overdose becomes a fatality presents a vital opportunity to intervene and seek medical help. However, It has been estimated that only between 10 percent and 56 percent of individuals who witness a drug overdose call for emergency medical services, with most of those doing so only after other attempts to revive the overdose victim (e.g., inflicting pain or applying ice) have proved unsuccessful.ii Furthermore, severe penalties for possession and use of illicit drugs, including state laws that impose criminal charges on individuals who provide drugs to someone who subsequently dies of an overdose, only intensify the fear that prevents many witnesses from seeking emergency medical help. DPA spearheaded passage of the nations first 911 Good Samaritan law in New Mexico in 2007. Since then, momentum has grown quickly. In 2012, six states California, Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts and Rhode Island along with the District of Columbia, passed this life-saving legislation, bringing the total number of 911 Good Samaritan states to 10. These laws are loosely based on Good Samaritan policies currently in effect on more than 90 U.S. college and university campuses for the purpose of preventing fatal alcohol and drug overdoses.

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Naloxone Saves Lives Chief among todays highly effective available practices to halt and reverse the growing toll of accidental opioid overdose fatalities is naloxone hydrochloride (also known as Narcan), a low-cost drug available generically that was first approved by the FDA in 1971. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist that blocks the brain cell receptors activated by heroin and other opioids, temporarily restoring normal breathing within two to three minutes of administration. Naloxone works by taking up opioid receptor sites in the brain; it has a higher affinity for the opioid receptor sites and stays bound longer than the opioid activators that bind and release rapidly. Ideally, emergency medical responders are summoned as soon as an overdose is detected. A dose of naloxone is then administered and rescue breathing is initiated if necessary. If the victim has not been revived after two minutes, another dose of naloxone is administered and so on until the naloxone has the desired effect. Naloxones effects last for 30 to 75 minutes, allowing time for the arrival of emergency medical assistance.iii Naloxone is most commonly administered via intramuscular injection, but it can also be administered intranasally using an atomizer device that delivers a mist to the nasal mucus membrane. The device used for this latter form of administration is not yet FDA approved, but it is in use by EMS responders in Utah and New Mexico and by overdose prevention groups in Massachusetts, New Mexico and California. Naloxones only effects are to reverse respiratory failure resulting from an opioid overdose and to cause uncomfortable withdrawal symptoms in the dependent user.iv It has no pharmacological effect if administered to a person who has not taken opioidsv and has no potential for abuse.vi Naloxone Training for the Public Naloxone-distribution programs train potential overdose witnesses to correctly administer the drug to a peer in need, greatly reducing the risk of accidental death. In addition, the programs involve overdose prevention education and training in how to recognize overdoses, perform rescue breathing and contact emergency medical services. Such efforts are small when compared to the scope of the national accidental

overdose crisis, but their results are highly encouraging. Overall, participation in naloxone distribution programs has been found to improve participants recognition of and response to overdose. A 2008 study, conducted by Yale University researchers, found that people who use illegal drugs can learn to identify and respond to opioid overdoses just as effectively as medical professionals. The study, funded by the National Institute of Mental Health, found that people who use heroin who receive training can recognize an overdose and determine whether and when naloxone should be administered.vii Expanding the Availability of Naloxone Providing take-home naloxone to opioid users for later administration in case of an overdose is a simple, inexpensive measure that has the potential to significantly reduce mortality caused by heroin overdose.viii Several community programs in major metropolitan areas are making important strides in increasing public access to naloxone. In recent years, a number of syringe exchange programs in major U.S. cities have begun making naloxone available to people who inject illicit drugs. Many overdose prevention programs are paired with syringe exchange programs, creating important linkages between services that can help prevent both accidental overdose and the spread of HIV/AIDS, hepatitis and other infectious diseases among people who use injection drugs. While its important to make naloxone available to people who visit syringe exchange programs, it is equally important to ensure naloxone availability to members of the public who use prescription opioids but do not use syringes and do not visit exchange programs. Naloxone-availability efforts have been undertaken in cities and states around the country with considerable success: An evaluation of the Chicago Recovery Alliance program launched in 1998 and expanded in 2000 in which physicians prescribe naloxone through mobile vans,ix found that an estimated 10,211 people had engaged in the program and that 1,011 overdoses were reversed through naloxone administration as of December 2007.x

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Chicago, which had experienced a 135 percent increase in heroin overdose deaths between 1996 and 2000, saw a 30 percent decline in opioid overdose deaths, from 466 in 2000 to 324 in 2003.xi The Baltimore City Department of Health announced in 2004 that at least 52 overdoses had been reversed through its naloxone overdose prevention program.xii Reduction of overdose deaths in Baltimore to a 10-year low in 2005 was partly attributed to naloxone distribution.xiii San Francisco reported 148 heroin overdose reversals over three years (2004-06) as a direct result of its naloxone availability efforts.xiv Overdose deaths in the city declined in 2004, while overdoses in the rest of California increased by 42 percent. Reported overdose deaths in New Mexico, which has had a chronically high drug-related death rate, have dropped by 20 percent since the states Department of Health began a naloxonedistribution program in 2001.xv Following the introduction in 2006 of a naloxoneaccess program, Boston recorded 60 peer overdose reversals using naloxone in just over a year.xvi New York State passed legislation in 2005 establishing that physicians may lawfully prescribe naloxone explicitly for potential future opiate overdose.xvii In 2007 in North Carolina, recognizing the rising rate of overdose among pain patients, the state medical board approved Project Lazarus in Wilkes County. The program asks providers prescribing opioid pain medications to also prescribe naloxone to a broad range of patients who may be at high risk of overdose. It also dispenses naloxone nasal sprays to other high-risk populations leaving hospital emergency rooms, detox centers and jails.xviii The drug has also been available over the counter without problems for many years in Italy.xix

One key barrier to broader naloxone access in the U.S. is its status as a prescription drug. Depending on state law, prescriptions for naloxone must either be written to individuals who have requested to carry the drug or may be made by programs operating under standing orders from a physician. Improving Naloxone Awareness Support is growing among some physicians and other health professionals for regularly pairing naloxone with all opioid prescriptions.xx Under this scenario, physicians would routinely write a prescription for naloxone to accompany every prescription for opioid medications. Such a convention would have the dual benefits of safeguarding the life of the patient and normalizing naloxone by educating the greater public about its function and proper use. It is particularly important to make naloxone available in methadone clinics, addiction treatment programs, syringe exchange programs, college and university health centers and emergency rooms. Law enforcement professionals and prison personnel should also be trained on how to respond to opioid overdose, including rescue breathing and administration of naloxone. Liability Mitigation Even though naloxone is already governed by state and federal prescription drug laws, some physicians may be discouraged from distributing naloxone because of legal concerns.xxi After years of federal prosecutions against physicians accused of professional negligence or corruption for prescribing opioids for pain, doctors supportive of naloxone availability are understandably concerned about potential liabilities stemming from any incorrect use of the drug or from unintended results.xxii Explicit legal protection for naloxone distribution programs and/or prescribers is offered by only a handful of states. This lack of a consistent legal framework supporting national naloxone availability casts a shadow of uncertainty over good-faith efforts to save lives. Though no guarantees exist, several reviews of existing law have concluded that prescribing naloxone and providing proper training in its use does not expose physicians to an unusual risk of medical liability a long as the physician acts (1) in good faith, (2) in the course of professional practice and (3) for a legitimate medical purpose.xxiii

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In California, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Overdose Treatment Liability Act (Senate Bill 767), which went into effect on January 1, 2008. The legislation protects physicians and healthcare providers who prescribe take-home naloxone to people at risk of overdose. Community-based syringe exchange and drug treatment programs that target opioid users in Los Angeles receive county funding to train clients on how to prevent an overdose, administer naloxone and assist with rescue breathing. Clients also receive information about treatment services and other resources. Nevertheless, it remains illegal in most jurisdictions for physicians to prescribe naloxone to a family member for use on a loved one who has not seen the doctor. Neither is it legal for the prescription recipient to use naloxone on another person for whom it was not prescribed. New Mexicos Overdose Prevention and Response Initiative addresses these failings by explicitly authorizing non-healthcare providers to administer an opioid antagonist if they believe in good faith that the other person is experiencing an opioid drug overdose and they act with reasonable care.xxiv Provisions for the legal dispensing, use and/or possession of naloxone can be included in 911 Good Samaritan legislation, as was the case in Washingtons Good Samaritan bill, or as stand-alone legislation. A handful of other states have taken similar action to protect naloxone availability. For example, in 2005, New York State passed a far-reaching law that provides for state regulation of overdose prevention programs, defines the use of naloxone as first aid and clarifies that persons who administer naloxone are immune from civil liability or criminal prosecution for the provision of overdose treatment in good faith. The law also directs the state commissioner to publish opioid overdose death and emergency data,xxv an invaluable tool in tracking and responding to accidental drug overdoses. Experts generally agree that any possible malpractice liability can be reduced by ensuring that those who are given a naloxone overdose kit understand its proper usexxvi and that naloxone programs train participants in the full range of overdose responses and maintain thorough documentation.xxvii Experts also point to the routine practice of making lifesaving medications available to third parties trained in emergency management;xxviii to the training of family

and friends to administer drugs such as glucagon for diabetes or epinephrine for anaphylaxis, both of which have far greater potential for adverse reactions than naloxone;xxix and to the wide latitude provided by federal law for the prescription of drugs for uses beyond those indicated on their labels.xxx Public Outreach and Education Providing practical, life-saving information to people who use opioids can dramatically reduce the likelihood of fatal overdose. A major factor in drug overdose incidence in New Mexico, for example, is the mixing of drugs such as opiates with alcohol or cocaine. In response, the state has undertaken an outreach and education initiative to inform people who use drugs about the risks of using multiple substances simultaneously. Additionally, overdose risk is significantly greater following an extended period of abstinence or reduced use whether of a voluntary nature, such as spending time in a rehabilitation facility, or involuntary, such as incarceration. Injection heroin users have seven times the risk of death from an overdose during the first two weeks after their release from incarceration.xxxi A recent study found that, during the first two weeks post-release, individuals released from Washington State prisons had an overdose rate nearly 13 times that of the general population.xxxii The key to combating the rise in overdose among users of pain medications is education, not only for patients, but also for their doctors and caregivers. Pain patients must be adequately informed about the dangers of taking larger and/or more frequent doses of opioid medication than prescribed, and mixing opioids with alcohol or other drugs. Medication-specific risks must be carefully explained, and patients must be given detailed dosages, time frames and information about companion pain-management strategies.

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Recommendations: Enact 911 Good Samaritan immunity laws at all jurisdictional levels to protect overdose witnesses from arrest and prosecution for minor drug law violations. Provide education in prevention and overdose reversal to people residing in homeless shelters and to individuals prior to their release from jails, prisons, residential treatment and detoxification programs. Increase awareness about overdose prevention, recognition and response among high school and college students. Provide overdose prevention, recognition and response education at methadone clinics and all syringe exchange programs. Support public education initiatives to foster awareness of any overdose policy reforms and improve cooperation with ambulance and police services. Encourage doctors to prescribe naloxone to patients using prescription opioids and better educate their patients about the risks inherent to opioid analgesics. Develop and deliver overdose trainings and education campaigns targeted at general- and family-practice physicians, registered nurses, pharmacists and other medical personnel. Shield first responders from liability should the use of naloxone prove ineffective.

Maxwell, S. Bigg, D. Stanczykiewicz, K. Carlberg-Racich, S. Prescribing Naloxone to Actively Injecting Heroin Users: A Program to Reduce Heroin Overdose Deaths. Journal of Addictive Diseases 25 (2006). v Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. vi Maxwell, S. Bigg, D. Stanczykiewicz, K. Carlberg-Racich, S. Prescribing Naloxone to Actively Injecting Heroin Users: A Program to Reduce Heroin Overdose Deaths. Journal of Addictive Diseases 25 (2006). vii Green, T.C. Heimer, R. Grau, L.E. Distinguishing Signs of Opioid Overdose and Indication for Naloxone: An Evaluation of Six Overdose Training and Naloxone Distribution Programs in the United States. Addiction 103 (2008): 979-989 viii Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. ix Maxwell, S. Bigg, D. Stanczykiewicz, K. Carlberg-Racich, S. Prescribing Naloxone to Actively Injecting Heroin Users: A Program to Reduce Heroin Overdose Deaths. Journal of Addictive Diseases 25 (2006). x Bigg, Dan, executive director of the Chicago Recovery Alliance. Estimates of Participants and Reversals in the Chicago Recovery Alliance. Email. 11 March 2009. xi Maxwell, S. Bigg, D. Stanczykiewicz, K. Carlberg-Racich, S. Prescribing Naloxone to Actively Injecting Heroin Users: A Program to Reduce Heroin Overdose Deaths. Journal of Addictive Diseases 25 (2006). xii MacGillis, Alec. [Baltimore] City Overdose Deaths Fell by 12% Last Year; Illicit drug toll of 261 in 04 was the lowest in 5 years. Baltimore Sun 28 March 2005. xiii Hurley, Dan. Emergency Antidote, Direct to Addicts. The New York Times 11 December 2007; and A Lifeline for Addicts. Editorial. The Boston Globe 19 November 2007. xiv Seal, K.H. Thawley, R. Gee, L. Bamberger, J. Kral, A.H. Ciccarone, D. Downing, M. Edlin, B.R. Naloxone distribution and cardiopulmonary resuscitation training for injection drug users to prevent heroin overdose death: a pilot intervention study. Journal of Urban Health 82(2005): 303-311; and Bamberger, J. Presentation: Overdose Prevention and Naloxone Distribution. San Francisco, CA 15 March 2006 <http://www.cleanneedlesnow.org/overdose/presentations/Los_Ang eles_Overdose_Prevention_Summit_Joshua_Bamberger_Presentati on.pdf>. xv New Mexico Department of Health, Substance Abuse Epidemiology Unit. New Mexico State Epidemiology Profile, Spring 2005. 2005: viii, 23. xvi A Lifeline for Addicts. Editorial. The Boston Globe19 November 2007. xvii Bills A.7162-A (Dinowitz) and S.4869-A (Hannon). xviii Hurley, Dan. Emergency Antidote, Direct to Addicts. The New YorkTimes 11 December 2007 xix Campana, S. Overdose mortality and naloxone distribution in Italy. Paper presented at: Prevention Heroin Overdose: Pragmatic Approaches, Seattle, WA (2000, January); and Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. xx Coffin, P.O., C. Fuller, L. Vadnai, S. Blaney, S. Galea, D. Vlahov. Preliminary evidence of health care provider support for naloxone prescription as overdose fatality prevention strategy in New York City. Journal of Urban Health 80 (2003): 288-290. xxi Sporer, K. A., A. H. Kral. Prescription Naloxone: A Novel Approach to Heroin Overdose Prevention. Annals of Emergency Medicine 49 (2007): 172-77.
iv

Davidson, Peter J. et al. Witnessing heroin-related overdoses: the experiences of young injectors in San Francisco, Addiction 97 (December 2002): 1511. ii Tracy, Melissa, et. al. Circumstances of witnessed drug overdose in New York City: implications for intervention, Drug and Alcohol Dependence 79 (2005): 181-182. iii Sporer, K.A. Strategies for preventing heroin overdose. British Medical Journal 326 (22 February 2003): 442-444; Galea S., J. Ahern, D. Vlahov, C. Fuller, A.C. Leon, and K. Tardiff. Income Distribution and Risk of Fatal Drug Overdose in New York City Neighborhoods. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 70 (2003): 139148; and Coffin, P.O., M. Tracy, A. Bucciarelli, D. Ompad, D. Vlahov, S. Galea. Identifying Iinjection drug users at risk of nonfatal overdose. Academic Emergency Medicine 14 (2007): 616623.
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Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. xxiii Ibid. xxiv New Mexico Administrative Code 7.32.7.8 Individual Authorization to Administer Opioid Antagonist 13 September 2001: Persons, other than a licensed health care professional permitted by law to administer an opioid antagonist, are authorized to administer an opioid antagonist to another person if he, in good faith, believes the other person is experiencing an opioid drug overdose and he acts with reasonable care in administering the drug to the other person. It is strongly recommended that any person administering an opioid antagonist to another person immediately call for Emergency Medical Services. xxv State of New York Codes, Rules and Regulations 10.80.138 Opioid Overdose Prevention Programs; New York State Public Health Law Article 33, Title 1, Sec. 3309. xxvi Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. xxvii Ibid. xxviii Ibid. xxix Maxwell, S. Bigg, D. Stanczykiewicz, K. Carlberg-Racich, S. Prescribing Naloxone to Actively Injecting Heroin Users: A Program to Reduce Heroin Overdose Deaths. Journal of Addictive Diseases 25 (2006). xxx Burris, S. Norland, J. Edlin, B.R. Legal Aspects of Providing Naloxone to Heroin Users in the United States. International Journal of Drug Policy 12 (2001): 237-248. xxxi Sporer, K. A., A. H. Kral. Prescription Naloxone: A Novel Approach to Heroin Overdose Prevention. Annals of Emergency Medicine 49 (2007): 172-77. xxxii Sporer, K.A. Strategies for preventing heroin overdose. British Medical Journal 326 (22 February 2003): 442-444; Galea S., J. Ahern, D. Vlahov, C. Fuller, A.C. Leon, and K. Tardiff. Income Distribution and Risk of Fatal Drug Overdose in New York City Neighborhoods. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 70 (2003): 139148; Coffin, P.O., M. Tracy, A. Bucciarelli, D. Ompad, D. Vlahov, S. Galea. Identifying injection drug users at risk of nonfatal overdose. Academic Emergency Medicine 14 (2007): 616-623; Binswanger, I.A. et al. Release from Prison a High Risk of Death for Former Inmates. New England Journal of Medicine 157 (2007): 356; and Seal, K.H. Predictors and Prevention of Non-Fatal Overdose Among Street-Recruited Heroin Users in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1998-1999. American Journal of Public Health 1842 (2001): 91.
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